You would think a gun was a bible, the way people cling to them...

[randys1]

We all remember the famous quote by Obama, he was of course exactly right as well.

I have made the correct and absolutely accurate observation that guns are basically toys, not unlike video games which I enjoy.

I actually think shooting a gun for target practice is fun, I especially recall shooting skeet at a dude ranch one summer, tons of fun as long as you wear ear gear.

HOWEVER, there is one obvious difference between a gun (call it a hobby or a toy, either way is fine with me) and other toys, unlike my PlayStation racing games (and for that matter shooting games, which I dont actually play cuz I stink at em) or Frisbees or watch collecting or stamp collecting or horseshoes, guns are designed to kill and they do.

If we could control guns to the point where death by accident or murder was so rare it would be big news, then fine, but we cant and dont seem to want to thanks to the NRA, so we need to work on getting rid of most of them.

Common sense...

PS

I am not looking to create enemies among pro gun Dems, I just think if we are ever going to get anywhere YOU guys have to start it.

[Skidmore]

1. It's not that we can't.

It is that guns are big money, both in the private sector and in the military. Those making money dealing in death have the ultimate stranglehold over the nation--witness the Bundy Ranch. Guns kill and intimidate, regardless of how many excuses are made to justify their existence.

[randys1]

2. Yes, yet you will never hear that admission from the pro gun folks, like I said above

I think we are in big trouble if we cant get pro gun Dems to consider change.

[Hoyt]

3. Excellent post. No matter how much fun some folks have with guns, they do cause a great deal of harm

in our society -- deaths, suicides, intimidation, guns embolden people to do things they other wise would not (Zimmerman and Dun are recent examples), etc. And, we are beginning to see the right/white wing use them to intimidate people.

Maybe it's time for those who need guns for fun, to give them up for the good of society (or give up some of them while supporting laws that restrict guns on demand, and guns in more and more places). If you like target shooting, lasers work as well. Do you really have to have weapons to blow up melons or jugs of water like someone's head, or shoot targets resembling people?

For those, who feel their self-defense needs require them to have a weapons cache and a gun in their pants in public, maybe you should reconsider on a more rational basis, factoring in the fact we live in a modern society and the risks of needing a gun really are pretty low with a little situational awareness.

From society's view point, is it really worth going another decade without restricting guns to some extent such that we have another 100 million to deal with when we finally bite the bullet like Australia did in 1996?

Sure, it will take years for restrictions to produce results, but can we really afford to keep pumping guns into the market and promoting gun love in our society?

[randys1]

4. Ahh, common sense response, thanks